Man Posing as Officer Sought in 3 Assaults

Police have intensified a search for a man who accosts and sometimes assaults teen-age girls by impersonating a police officer, investigators said.

The man is suspected of sexually assaulting three girls and accosting at least 11 others.

A 15-year-old Arrowview intermediate school student told investigators that she was approached by the impostor at 2:50 p.m. Jan 16 on West 16th Street, Sgt. Bob Evans said.

The impostor “told her she was a witness to a crime and to accompany him,” Evans said.

She got into the car and was handcuffed and driven to a remote area where she was raped, Evans said, then was later returned to the general area of her abduction.

Hers was the 14th case involving the impostor, investigators said.

Of the 14 cases reported, eight girls said they entered the impostor’s car, but only three were assaulted, Barilic said.

Police plan to circulate a new composite sketch of the impostor and are working with local school authorities to inform students about safety.